University of North Texas

Background

As the saying goes, “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” The University of North Texas is no exception, being one of the largest universities in the state. Having a student population over 37,000, along with thousands of faculty and staff, parking is an important component of creating a balanced and integrated transportation program on campus.

The University, located in Denton, Texas, has a rich past in the Lone Star State, recently celebrating its 125th anniversary. It also has a solid history with T2 Systems, having been a customer for nearly 15 years.

Challenges

When Geary Robinson, Director of Transportation Services, came on board in 2013, he had goals of increasing UNT’s efficiency and generating a more accurate revenue stream. Prior to joining UNT, he had partnered with T2 on a larger scale at two other universities dating back to the late ‘90s; experience that convinced him to move toward the full utilization of T2’s UNIFI Parking Management Platform. They currently use Permit Management, Enforcement, PARCS and Citation Services.

Adopting Citation Services

From the onset, it was easy to demonstrate success with Citation Services (CS). CS has allowed UNT to significantly increase its parking revenue and improve its customer service.

“When I joined UNT, there were several issues that we needed to address and we were able to correct them much easier using the suite of tools from T2. It has made a huge difference,” Geary said. “You have to track every penny and know where you got it, how it made its way through the system into the bank, and can you validate that coming back around? Now, our systems do that.”

Geary has also been exceptionally pleased with the level of support they’ve received from T2’s team.

“With CS, we have the benefit of having a concierge service for collections because we matter–more so to CS than any other collection company that’s out there,” he said.

The efficiencies they’ve gained speak for themselves. “Now it’s essentially a 24/7 force instead of 8 to 5 for our own staff. Having round-the-clock access and with a credit card payment option – it helps us tremendously and adds value to our customers’ experience. They can get online, pay with their credit card and move on.”

A Permit Solution that Works

UNT also relies on T2 for its permit sales and fulfillment.

“I can tell you when I look at our permit sales for Fiscal Year ‘14, ’15 and ’16, in every category of permits – and we’re not selling any reserved spaces – the place stays full. We couldn’t have done it without the equipment we have from T2.”

Parking in the Cloud

T2 hosting allowed UNT to move compliance off the university and into a secure environment. “We’re protecting our data and we’re helping our employees to work smarter. It has actually improved revenue streams and we’re reducing our cost slowly but surely.”

Results

In a university setting, Geary says, “it’s not about trying to make money. It’s about being an auxiliary service to the university so no educational or general funds go into what we’re doing. As a pure auxiliary, we generate our own revenue based on permit sales.”

And when he has questions? Geary is quick to acknowledge, “In the T2 family, you’ve got a lot of people to go to. It’s different. It’s progressive and it’s proactive, not reactive."